TV REVIEW: AMC's 'Mad Men' returns with a whimper, though Sterling still stellar
AMC’s “Mad Men” returned Sunday night after a 17-month hiatus. The two-hour season premier drew 3.5 million viewers, though the episode was a massive letdown.
The series executed its usual off-season chronological leap. Season 4 ended in October 1965 with the announcement of Don Draper’s engagement to his secretary, Megan Calvert. Season 5 begins in June 1966, with the Civil Rights Movement gaining noticeable momentum.
Typical '60s fashion and design trends are now in full swing in the “Mad Men” world, most notably in the newly-wedded Don and Megan Draper’s Manhattan apartment during Don’s unwelcome surprise birthday party.
The scene brings into stark visual relief the ill-advised nature of Don’s marriage to Megan. The 25-year-old secretary, recently promoted to a position under Peggy Olson at the ad firm Sterling Cooper Draper Price (SCDP), is young and free-spirited. Their apartment and party guests are likewise brightly adorned.
Why is the serious, deeply troubled and reflective Don Draper, now age 40, living in an apartment with a zebra-print pillow?
Megan’s impulsive and highly-sexualized cabaret performance for Don, in front of his SCDP coworkers at the party, is a long way from Betty and Don’s sterile, repressed existence in years past; but how long can it last?
Not long, if Don’s embarrassed reaction is any indication. Megan lacks the sophistication of Betty Draper Francis, Don’s ex-wife, who was noticeably absent from the premier episode. Despite the predictable, angry make-up sex, Don’s marriage to Megan could be a house of cards built upon a midlife crisis.
As usual, Roger Sterling carries the day with witty lines like “The only thing worse than not getting what you want is someone else getting it.” But Sterling’s own second marriage has gone sour, and without bringing in new major clients at SCDP, Roger is growing increasingly marginalized at work.
Meanwhile, Pete Campbell is on the ascendency at the office. Look for him to become a major player this season. He has always seen himself as such, and he deserves it more and more. Pete and his wife Trudy also have a new daughter, Tammy.
There is another new baby in the “Mad Men” universe. When Joan Harris visits SCDP with Kevin, her baby boy, viewers sense the void her absence from the office has left in her.
The episode’s most moving and dramatic scene comes when Peggy, who gave up her own child for adoption much earlier in the series, is left to watch Joan’s baby.
Overall, the two-hour episode was generally underwhelming. Without Betty, the series loses much of its energy. Hopefully the possible stories set in motion will help improve the quality of the rest of the season's episodes.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
